1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 78 The Problem of Radio Communications

With the examples of Rutherford and Li Qiwei, the young people present were inevitably a little nervous and did not dare to be the first to go on stage.

However, Marconi did not have so many concerns. After all, he was an engineer, so it was understandable even if what he said was simple.

Now the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company he founded encountered a thorny problem.

Everyone here is an expert in the field of physics, so it is a good opportunity to ask these big guys for advice.

So he stood up, walked to the white paper, and said humbly, "Hello, respected teachers, my name is Marconi."

Someone at the scene seemed to recognize him, "Are you Marconi, the inventor of radio communication? It is said that you have achieved wireless communication between Britain and France."

Marconi was stunned. He didn't expect that he was quite famous, so he smiled and said, "It was me. That happened two years ago."

He immediately gained confidence and prepared to introduce himself first, saying, "Since humans invented the telegraph and telephone, the speed of information transmission has become countless times faster than before."

"But they all require electric current to transmit signals in the wires, and mountains, rivers and oceans will cause great difficulties in building the lines."

“It even takes a physics master like Lord Kelvin to solve the problem of undersea cables.”

"Even if we ignore economic factors and lay wires on several continents around the world, there is still no way for moving vehicles, such as ships in the ocean, to communicate."

"So I wondered if I could design a means of communication that didn't rely on wires."

“I found inspiration from the electromagnetic waves discovered by Professor Hertz: electromagnetic waves propagate in the air at the speed of light and do not require any medium.”

"So I designed a device that consists of two parts, an electromagnetic wave transmitter and an electromagnetic wave receiver."

"In 1895, I succeeded in sending electromagnetic wave signals to a distance of 1.5 miles using this device, and received the signals with a receiver."

"This excited me very much. I kept improving the device, testing electromagnetic waves of different wavelengths, and adjusting its amplitude and period to realize Morse code and thus transmit information."

"I call this device for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves a wireless station."

"Finally, in 1899, I set up wireless stations in England and France, and successfully achieved wireless communication across the English Channel."

Hearing this, those who had not known about wireless communication before could not help but exclaim.

Doesn’t that mean that in the future it will be possible for people across an ocean to communicate in real time?

Moreover, this type of communication does not require complicated circuits, all each person needs is a radio.

Everyone's eyes changed when they looked at Marconi. Although he was not a physicist, his genius invention was not much worse than that of the top physicists.

For a time, everyone was curious about his research.

Li Qiwei was also very moved. Marconi was a typical rich second generation. When he was doing radio communication experiments, he completed them in his own manor.

His father had a private library, and his mother found a private professor for him to study at home.

So he read countless books on electromagnetism and conducted countless electromagnetic experiments, which led to the invention of radio.

It is no exaggeration to say that radio has changed the world.

Therefore, he was also named one of the "100 Most Influential People in History", ranking 41st.

However, at this moment, the 27-year-old Marconi looked worried, "But my research has encountered several problems, which make radio communication insufficiently practical."

"The first is that it is very difficult to modulate the frequency, amplitude, period, etc. of electromagnetic waves."

"At present, all of our company's products are manually adjusted, which has large errors, is time-consuming, and is prone to errors."

"The second is that since electromagnetic waves travel in straight lines, given the curvature of the Earth's surface, it seems that radio cannot achieve global communication."

"So I haven't done any experiments until now. Because it would take too much manpower, material resources, and financial resources to do a transoceanic experiment."

“If it wasn’t feasible in theory, it would be hard for me to convince other people in the company to support me.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that global communication was not that easy. At the same time, they also admired Marconi's spirit of research.

From theory to practice, there is a huge gap between the two. It requires countless efforts and sweat. Sometimes it also requires a bit of luck.

Everyone in the room is a physicist. If you ask them about the properties of electromagnetic waves, they can definitely talk about it for three days and three nights.

However, when it comes to this kind of practical physical problem in reality, many people can only scratch their heads.

Only Li Qiwei present knew that the first problem needed to be solved using electron tubes.

Only miniaturized electron tubes can efficiently realize functions such as rectification, amplification, oscillation, mixing, frequency modulation, amplitude modulation, detection, etc.

As for the second question, it is actually feasible from a theoretical analysis.

Although the earth is round, its high-altitude surface is covered with the ionosphere, which can radiate electromagnetic waves.

In real history, Marconi achieved ultra-long-distance radio communication from Britain to Canada in December of this year.

On the day of the test, there was a strong storm in Canada and the receiving antenna was blown away.

Marconi used a kite to pull up the antenna, and after an anxious wait, he had lost all hope.

As a result, suddenly, a weak signal came, and the experiment was a great success.

Marconi himself did not understand why radio could travel such long distances without being affected by the curvature of the earth.

Looking back now, Marconi did what he knew was impossible. With such courage, it is no wonder that he was successful.

Li Qiwei didn't speak immediately, but looked at the other people at the long table.

Some of them lowered their heads, some rested their chins on their hands, all thinking about Marconi's problem.

At this time, Lang Zhiwan, who had been silent, said: "Mr. Marconi, I think the first question may require a systematic device."

"I imagine that it should be through various circuit designs such as voltage resistance to modulate electromagnetic waves, but there is no such product on the market at present."

Many people agree with Lang Zhiwan's point of view that such complex electromagnetic information cannot be processed manually.

The first question is indeed a bit difficult, as it is equivalent to inventing a modulator out of thin air.

The physicists present were not good at this and could not give any good suggestions, so Marconi had to rely on himself to figure it out.

At this time, Wilson said: "Marconi, I don't know the first question, but I have an idea for the second question."

"Can we build a relay station by constructing a radio station at a certain distance? As long as the two radio stations can communicate normally, then the connection can be made even at a long distance."

Everyone's eyes lit up; this was a good idea.

Millikan gave Wilson a thumbs up, thinking that brother Wilson was indeed well versed in experimental physics and could think of a feasible solution in an instant.

Wilson looked around: Basic operation, no 6.

However, Richardson suddenly raised another question, "How can we build transfer stations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and ensure that they are not damaged?"

This is really a problem.

For a moment, no one could come up with any good ideas.

Li Qiwei saw that the time was right, so he coughed lightly and said, "I have a different idea."

The number of readers has been declining recently. Maybe people don’t like to read such bland academic dramas.

To be honest, these ten chapters or so have made my head explode.

It seems that my book friends all want to see the protagonist show off quickly, but don’t be impatient.

There will be a climax soon, the Nobel Prize is coming!
Finally, thank you all for your support through monthly tickets and recommendation tickets, thank you.

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(End of this chapter)